


M&Ms

by issiefrancis



Series: Life Isn't Pretty [2]
Category: Ghostbusters (2016)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Menstruation, Sorry Not Sorry, abby and patty are hardly relevant once again
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-30
Updated: 2016-12-06
Packaged: 2018-09-03 06:33:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8701213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/issiefrancis/pseuds/issiefrancis
Summary: Erin gets slimed by a ghost and gets her period ALL IN ONE DAY. More fluff.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> There's like a brief mention of sex while menstruating so if that's not your thing just skip like four lines and it doesn't go anywhere.

"Er, duck!" Patty's shout comes too late, and slime splatters over Erin's face, chest, and left arm. Erin stiffens up, wiping the slime out of her stinging eyes. Patty and Abby have the ghost under control and Holtzmann snaps the containment unit open. Five seconds later, the ghost is trapped.

"You couldn't have done that _ten seconds_ sooner?" Erin throws a handful of slime on the ground and storms out to the Ecto-2. She's being a bitch, and she knows, but she just feels _shit_. She has a headache and she feels slow and ugly and she wants to be left alone with a textbook and some equations. And now there's slime in her ears and her nose. At least no one can blame her for crying with her eyes full of green goo. She sits on the tarp on the backseat and puts her head in her hands, letting the tears fall.

"Hey, babe." After packing their equipment into the back, Holtzmann hands the keys to Patty and crawls into the back seat beside Erin. "You okay?"

"Mmm-mmm." Erin shakes her head without looking up.

"Come here." Holtzmann hugs her, slime and all, and rubs her back gently. "It's okay, it'll be alright." Erin sighs into the embrace, then goes back to staring out the window.

Patty drives them back, talking about the ghost quietly to Abby, both of them knowing better than to get in the middle of their resident lesbian couple when there's drama.

Back at the firehouse, she goes straight to the bathroom to shower and gets a nasty surprise.

Her period. Of course.

She just pinches the bridge of her nose and gets into the shower to get clean, sighing in resignation as the slime swirls down the drain. When she gets out, she realizes they're all out of tampons. _For fucks' sake_. Could her day get any worse? For some irrational reason, the thought of having to ask for help makes her even grumpier, but she bites the bullet (what choice does she have?).

"Holtzmann?" She opens the bathroom door a crack and yells for her girlfriend.

"Ye-es?" Holtzmann slides down the firepole and bounds over to the bathroom, stupidly wide grin on her face and suit tied around her waist.

"Do you have any, um, tampons?" She's awkward even though Holtzmann was in exactly the same position not three days ago.

"I'll go have a look. You okay, my sweet?" Holtzmann sticks her head around the door and kisses Erin's shoulder.

Erin shrugs and scowls in spite of herself. "I have a headache, my uterus is shredding itself, and I got puked on by a ghost." She hates herself for being awkward and grumpy and she hates the look of profound understanding Holtzmann gives her but she's so fricking _done_.

"Let's take the afternoon off, okay?" Holtzmann's brow crinkles in concern. "We can go home, you can relax, I'll look after you. Sound good?"

Erin nods gratefully, trying not to be a total bitch.

***

Holtzmann bounds up the stairs and finds the pocket of her jacket that contains three different tampon brands and two different types of pads. She takes all of them, unsure what Erin wants, and knocks on the bathroom door. "Can I come in?"

The door opens slightly and Erin holds out a hand, not looking around the doorframe or even saying anything. Holtzmann screws up her nose in sympathy.

"Here you are, babe. I'll find a cab, I'm guessing you don't want to walk?"

Erin sighs through the door. "I'm such a bitch, I don't deserve you."

Holtzmann rolls her eyes. "It's _fine_ , Er."

Then she hears a strange muffled crying sound. Without hesitation, she shoves open the door and embraces Erin. She buries her face in Holtzmann's shoulder and cries louder. "Oh, Er. Hey, hey, breathe." She pulls back a little bit and puts her hands on Erin's face, locking eyes with her as her lip trembles wildly. "I know, shitty day, hormones, ghost puke, I know. Believe me. Now, deep breaths. C'mon, you can do it. In, out, in, out. We'll be home soon." Erin follows Holtzmann's breathing until she's calmed down a little bit.

Erin swipes away the tears with the back of her hand and smiles a wobbly smile. "I'm okay. Let me get dressed, then we can go?"

Holtzmann pecks her on the lips and nods. She calls out to the others that they're going home early as she runs up to Erin's desk and grabs her bag, water bottle, and notebook. She stops off in the kitchen and raids the emergency chocolate stash, which is down to toffee apple M&Ms and half-melted Santas. She takes the M&Ms.

"Holtz?" Hearing her girlfriend's soft question sends her bounding to Erin's side and hugging her gently.

"I got your bag and all that. Uber's waiting. You good to go?" Holtzmann smiles and lifts the bag to demonstrate. When Erin goes to grab it, she shakes her head. "Nope, nope, nope. I'm looking after you, m'lady. Let's go." Holtzmann leads her out to the street, where their convenient Uber is waiting.

Erin curls up on the left side with one arm over her stomach, and lets Holtzmann make light conversation with their driver. She still manages to squeeze Erin's hand lightly every time she winces at a stop or a corner, ever-attentive to her girlfriend's needs.

"Thank you!" Holtzmann calls, bounding around to open Erin's door and offering her a hand to hold.

"I'm not an invalid," Erin breaks a smile at her girlfriend's ridiculously chivalrous behaviour.

"Shush." Holtzmann lays off a little though, just holding Erin's hand lightly as they take the lift up to her apartment.

Erin goes straight to the bedroom and changes into sweatpants. Holtzmann makes tea as fast as humanly possible and throws together a tray to cheer her up: her favourite saltines, the M&Ms, an apple cut into slices, tea and honey, and painkillers. The last being the most important.  

"Here, babe." Holtzmann puts it down on the bedside table and sits beside Erin, who is curled into the fetal position. She groans when Holtzmann nudges her shoulder. "I got painkillers. If you have a couple, at least you'll feel a little better soon."

Erin pouts, but manages to sit up and take them with much encouragement from her girlfriend. Her eyes soften at the sight of the tray. She sighs. "I'm sorry I'm such a bitch. It's not personal."

Holtzmann smiles wryly. "If I recall correctly, I threw four whiteboard markers and a small nuclear device at you when I was bleeding from my vagina, so I think we're even."

"That was a _nuclear device?_ " Erin gapes for a second, then winces again. "You know what, I don't even want to know. Just cuddle me."  

Holtzmann obliges. "Feeling any better yet?"

"Just grumpy."

"You don't say," Holtzmann laughs softly. "Can I help?"

"Sing to me?" Erin asks quietly.

"Oh-" Holtzmann is surprised. "Sure. _Stars shining bright above you_ ," she whispers, building a little more as she gets into it. " _Night breezes seem to whisper 'I love you'_ …"

Erin huffs in satisfaction when she finishes. "Jill, you're so good at everything. How are you so good at everything?"

Holtzmann laughs against her shoulder, gently rubbing her back. "I'm not good at everything, it's just that everything I'm good at is important in my life. Nuclear engineering, singing, eating girls out-"

Erin groans. "Don't talk about sex. I'm so horny, I just can't do anything about it." She pouts.

"I mean, we could…" Holtzmann leans over and winks. "I'm a lesbian, Erin. It's nothing new. Trust me." She kisses her deeply, burying a hand in her hair. She's curious to see if Erin will pursue the issue, because they haven't gotten it on for a week or so now and she's pretty horny herself.

"Holtz!" Erin swats her lightly and Holtzmann pulls back. "I want nothing more than to push you down on this bed and fuck you until you're screaming, but I can barely move. Also, bleeding."

"Alri-ight." Holtzmann smiles softly, kissing her chastely to apologise. "Sorry. I'm kinda horny too, to be honest."

Erin screws up her nose. "This _sucks_. Shitty timing."

"It's fine. We can have mind-blowing sex next week. For now, I'll cuddle you 'til you feel better, okay?" Holtzmann kisses her nose and then resumes her position as big spoon, massaging her lower back to ease the cramps. It takes her a few minutes before she remembers the heating pad still tucked under the bed.

"Heating pad?"

"Oh, please!" Erin rolls a little so that Holtzmann can get her arm out to get it. She grabs it and plugs it in, then places it on Erin's tummy, adjusting until Erin sighs and relaxes a tiny bit.

"There?"

"That's great. Thank you." Erin sighs. "You're the best."

Holtzmann keeps rubbing her lower back for a few minutes, then kisses the back of her neck. She can practically feel Erin's grumpy, sexually frustrated face. "How are you feeling?"

"Bad. Holtzy…" Erin groans. "Will you massage my shoulders?"

"Of course, babe. Here, roll over." Erin rolls over and rests her head on her hands. Holtzmann sits up and stretches out her hands, then digs her thumbs into Erin's shoulder blades, loosening up the muscles as she works her way up and down her back. "Feel good?"

"It's nice. Thank you, Holtzy."

"Of course, babe."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I guess this is a little angsty lol. I can't pay for any dentist's bills for the tooth-rotting fluff lmao sorry.

They wake up together, Holtzmann's nose nuzzled into Erin's hair. She waits for a few moments before realising that she had been woken by Erin's groaning and shifting, and her girlfriend is already awake.

"Shit, sorry," Erin says, meeting Holtzmann's wide-open eyes. "I just wanted to get a bit more comfortable, my tummy was hurting."

"It's fine," Holtzmann smiles. "The last thing I need is to mess up my sleeping pattern by napping."

Erin smiles, then winces, hand going to her abdomen. "God, my cramps are awful this month. Usually they're pretty cope-able, but it's just-" Her face twists, hand rubbing her left side.

"Here." Holtzmann shifts so that she can spread her hand over Erin's stomach and rubs it gently. "Relax, babe. Deep breaths." She continues gently massaging the tight muscles, until Erin stills her hand with her own.

"Sorry," Erin grimaces. "You know when you can't tell if it's cramps or you gotta-" she breaks off, too awkward to say it in front of her girlfriend. She kind of half-mouths the rest.

Holtzmann laughs. "Erin, I threw up on your couch like three weeks ago, you can say it." She removes her hand and moves to rub Erin's shoulder instead, not wanting to make her more uncomfortable.

Erin shrugs. "We both know what I'm talking about. Do I really have to say it?"

"I mean, this isn't going to be the last time we talk about gross bodily functions," Holtzmann points out. 

Suddenly Erin rolls over, looking sad. "Isn't dating supposed to be _romantic_ , with dates in fancy restaurants and kisses in the rain and getting swept off your feet?" Erin screws up her nose. "Instead, we're talking about-"

She just _can't_ bring herself to say it to Holtzmann.

Holtzmann laughs again at her girlfriend's awkward face-pulling. "We've been romantic!" she protests. "I mean, we made out covered in ecto-projection. That's kind of like kissing in the rain."

"It's not, Holtz." Erin pouts, and Holtzmann can tell there's something serious going on behind those eyes. 

"Hey, what's up, babe?" Holtzmann asks, still rubbing her girlfriend's shoulder.

"Nothing." Erin shrugs, pulling a smile from somewhere.

Holtzmann doesn't push it. "We eat a lot of takeout together. That's pretty much a five-star restaurant experience right there," she teases gently.

"Yeah, and some of that takeout gave you food poisoning and you threw up on my couch," Erin points out, her voice monotone like when she's trying not to cry. "That's romantic."

Holtzmann tilts her head, slightly confused by the abrupt change in the direction of the conversation. "Do you really want us to be more romantic? Is this not…" She can't bring herself to say _enough_ , but they both hear it.  

"No, it's just-" Erin sighs, pressing a hand to her stomach as she rolls to face Holtzmann. "I feel like we're not doing this right."

Holtzmann is a little stung, but she knows what Erin's anxiety is like, and she knows that her girlfriend is a little overemotional at the moment, so she keeps a careful lid on her voice and asks, "Why not, Er? We love each other."

"We've never even been on a real date," Erin points out. "We practically live together. It's like… we're best friends, not girlfriends. I feel like dating should mean actually going on dates and dressing up and- I don't know. Do you get me?" Erin's eyes are huge and pleading, and her breathing is just a little erratic. 

Holtzmann pulls her girlfriend closer, careful not to press too hard around her abdomen, but letting her feel the slow, even breaths she's taking. "Eri-in. My darling, light of my life, my beautiful girlfriend. C'mon, breathe with me. I hear what you're saying, and I don't mean to invalidate your feelings at all, but – do you think maybe this is strange because you've only ever dated people that you had to pretend for? Because I feel like our relationship is solid and healthy and I love you a lot."

"I guess," Erin admits. "It's just – I don't know. I'm just being stupid. I want to spoil you, ya know?"

"You're not stupid, Er. And you can totally spoil me. Next week, when your mood swings aren't giving me whiplash." Despite her gentle handling of Erin's anxiety, the last bit just slips out. It's meant to be a joke, so they can both laugh about the situation, but it falls flat. She can tell immediately from the way Erin's face falls, and she reaches over to do damage control, but then-

Erin starts crying. "I'm sorry, I just feel crappy and-"

"Oh, jeez-" Holtzmann brushes a tear off her cheek with the pad of her thumb. "I'm sorry, sweetie. C'mon, breathe. In, out." Erin relaxes ever so slightly. "I didn't mean to upset you. Bad joke. You can be as moody as you want, I'm not going anywhere. I understand- hey, hey, come back." She's about to launch into a romantic apology speech to help Erin get her feet back on solid ground, but Erin is rolling away from her.

Erin gets up, still half-crying. "No, I just gotta-" She points at the bathroom, _still_ too awkward to say it. "Sorry, bad timing."

"Oh." Holtzmann makes a face, nodding. Erin wipes a hand across her cheeks and disappears into the bathroom.

Holtzmann occupies herself with taking apart Erin's alarm clock, trying to pretend that they have sound-proofing between the bathroom and bedroom. When they get their own apartment, Holtzmann is going to personally install the sound-proofing. This is just awkward for everyone involved.

She successfully distracts herself wondering if she could incubate a nuclear device inside the wall. Erin would definitely have a fit if she knew about that. Probably kind of hard to hide an unstable nuclear device from her genius girlfriend.

She wonders if there's anything that will make Erin more comfortable. They've already covered all the usual bases – heating pad, cuddles, tea, painkillers.

The clock has been completely taken apart and then rebuilt when Erin finally re-emerges, blushing. "Just, um, don't go in there."

Holtzmann shrugs, smiling easily. "You okay, Er?"

"Just my period," she grimaces. "Always fucks with my digestive system."

Holtzmann holds out her arms and Erin crawls in between them, cuddling up against Holtzmann's shoulder.

"I didn't mean to upset you, you know. I just wasn't thinking." Holtzmann picks up the thread of their last conversation.

"It's fine, Holtz." Erin smiles tiredly, leaning on Holtzmann's shoulder.

"I've never heard a girl say 'It's fine' and have it actually be fine," Holtzmann says dryly. She tilts Erin's head up gently to look her in the eyes. "I love you. We're gonna be together for a damned long time and life is messy sometimes, like now and last week and when I got food poisoning, but I _promise_ it's also going to be magical. I'll take you out for dinner and we can go to concerts and comedy shows and nerdy presentations and I'll spoil you." Erin is smiling, and Holtzmann huffs a silent sigh of relief because she's looking much happier. She finishes with, "But right now I think we should just relax, because you don't really look like you're in the mood to go anywhere."

Erin kisses her firmly, unable to stop smiling. "That was, uh, _totally_ frickin' adorable, Holtz." Holtzmann rolls her eyes. "Seriously, thank you. I mean, today alone I've cried, like, three times and been stupidly grumpy with you even though you've been the best girlfriend I could ask for, so I think you had a point about the mood swings." She's laughing by now, and Holtzmann joins in.

"You think, babe?" she teases.

Erin nods, snuggling in closer, still grinning.

"Are you okay, though? Really?"

"I'm always okay when I'm with you," Erin says, muffled by Holtzmann's shirt.

Holtzmann could debate this point with ample evidence from today, but she doesn't. She hugs her girlfriend closer and reaches down to massage her lower back, appreciating the sigh of contentment that she gets in response.

Of course they're okay when they're with each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is totally me setting up a sequel sorry not sorry.   
> come find me on tumblr at itsanizzyb :)

**Author's Note:**

> Shoutout to that one person who was like "sequel", you inspired me to write more trashy Holtzbert period fluff.  
> Comments make the author SMILE!


End file.
